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There are 20 replies in this Thread. The last Post (Mar 29th 2012, 6:53pm) by Elly.

Re: WHEN did JW Meet FORD?

Ralph 'Pexy' Eckles.
Remembered several jobs they got with MGM.Duke doubled for Francis X. Bushman in Brown of Harvard,
and he portrayed a spear carrying guard in Bardlelys the Magnificent.
Eckles recalled:

Duke and I enjoyed such work...
and were grateful for the pay..
which was eight to ten dollars a day...
good money back then...

Football films were popular in Hollywood.

Nearly all the studios were making them...
and so were coming over to USC and using students as extras.
Duke worked as a football player in several of them

Inj the Spring of 1926, Duke also worked that semester
as an extra in MGM'sAnnie Laurie.
Intrigued with the industry, he wrangled a screen test at MGM.

Iron Eyes Cody, remembered meeting Duke in the spring of 1926.,

Duke started working for Fox in the Summer of 1926,
commencing with the Great K & A Train Robbery

The book goes on to say Duke worked on sets
on the swing gang, as a glorified furniture mover.
It was on one of the sets that Ford met him,
but it does NOT say which one,
but that it was around June 1926.

The book John Wayne- The Politics of Celebrity. Garry Mills.Page 68.

Suggest the two met in 1926 or 1927.
with the often mentioned 'kicking on the rump',
Again though, it does not say on which set.

Best WishesKeithLondon- England

The post was edited 2 times, last by ethanedwards (Mar 29th 2012, 5:46pm).

Re: WHEN did JW Meet FORD?

Here is a little more info. as told by Duke on when He first meet John Ford and where !
John Ford's "Salute" (1929) was an inexpensive action movie about the football rivalry between the Army and the Navy. Shooting, however, began before the semester was over and Duke had to persuade the university' president to let the students appear in the movie.
Duke said he did a good public relations job, stressing the rewards of such an experience: the travel to Annaplois and Washington D.C., the learning of the country's political and military institutions, and, of course, the money !
Producer Sol Wurtzel offered each football player 75 dollars a week, but Wayne, trying to impress him with his modesty, suggested instead only 50 dollars. Then Wurtzel proceeded to tell Wayne the bad news: “I forgot to mention to you, Duke, that you're doing double duty on this picture. You're still doing propping work, and playing football too. Congratulations! You just screwed yourself out of twenty-five bucks a week!”
Ironically, Wayne was cast in "Salute" as George O'Brien's brother Bill, a cadet at the Annapolis Academy, something he could never achieve in his real life. The critical response to the film was not all that good, but "Salute" was very popular at the box-office. This picture is also important for marking the beginning of a life-long work and friendship for Duke with Ward Bond, another student at U.S.C., who went on to become an actor, by accident, like John Wayne !!! Bill

Re: WHEN did JW Meet FORD?

Bill's post mentions that they met on the set of Salute,
but this is NOT where they met!
This movie is the first time Ford cast him as a support role/ extra,
and the first movie that Duke spoke in, see:Salute (1929)
The facts are, that they met way before then,
on a previous set, when Duke was on the 'swing gang'
as mentioned in all the previous posts/ quotes.

Ford 'kicked him on the rump' on one of those sets,
but which one? that is what we want to know!

Best WishesKeithLondon- England

The post was edited 7 times, last by ethanedwards (Mar 29th 2012, 6:04pm).

Re: WHEN did JW Meet FORD?

Duke actually states on camera, that it was on the set
of Mother Machree, (1928)
when Ford got him herding the geese,
that it was this movie where he was 'kicked'
and that it was THIS movie that was his FIRST job with Mr Ford

Duke states:

So when Mr. Ford needed a goose herder for his set,
it just fit my pistol. They had a hill made up, a fake hill for this
set of Mother Machree and the geese, were getting down under
the two by fours there, and they needed a fella to herd them out.
so that was my first job with Mr Ford

Duke went on to say

So you're a footballer player said Mr Ford, get down
on my forearms and feet, and just kicked my arms from under me,
and stuck my nose in the mud that they'd made for Mother Machree,

and the rest is history.

As production started in September 1926
this would fit with all the information from the books.

I for one cannot dispute or argue with what Duke actually said!!

Best WishesKeithLondon- England

The post was edited 21 times, last by ethanedwards (Mar 29th 2012, 6:52pm).